"How to become 'UP AND RUNNING' in important elements of Creative Media, leading to seriously good films."
This whole assignment was a complete eye opener for productional work that I had never even come across before. We did a number of creative projects in groups and I really enjoyed working with my friends throughout this assignment. Planning a production is a lot more complexed and time consuming that I ever though it would be, but I really enjoyed the concept of every project. I can honestly say I have learnt a ton of new things within this assignment.
1) Evaluate how you have grown and developed as a practitioner, during this assignment?
I feel I have grown as a person during this assignment. I appeared properly on camera in a number of single productions that we have completed in groups, which was a complete learning curve for me. I hate being in front of the camera but in order to take one for the team, I had to be. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I still 100% prefer being the camera operator as opposed to the actress and on-screen colleague.
I also feel like my editing has made a vast improvement since the last assignment. My favourite production for me to edit was the One Shot project we did as a whole class. I did a number of effects and transitions during editing the video and I was really pleased with the outcome. This was actually the first production we did in this assignment, but was one of the most enjoyable for me. It was good for the whole class to bond and interact with each other, and during this project I made some new friends.
2) What two things were you most proud of?
The two things I am most proud of is how I overcome my fear of being on camera and how my editing skills have vastly improved since joining this course. I have a complete phobia of being in front of a camera that I have no control over, I feel like a bit of a puppet being told what to do. I've never liked it, even as a child. It was a massive learning curve for me that we will all eventually have to be in front of the camera for at least two productions per assignment, otherwise it isn't fair on the people that are always on camera, as they may want to be behind it. I think people contributed to this more than a 'thing', as my friends said it was fine for me to go on camera. They promised they wouldn't laugh. I have severe anxiety about that type of thing and I'm so pleased that my friends helped me through it. I couldn't have done it without them!
My editing skills are just on a different planet now. I found that in the first assignment I was asking every five minutes how to do something on Adobe Premier Pro, but now I have muscled in and worked things out on my own. I've come to terms with the fact that not every video or production we do will be a success, and any editing I do is a learning method. My editing skills in the One Shot video we did were a complete shock to me, and even watching it now still amazes me as to how I actually did it all myself.
3) What two things do you think you could improve in the future?
I think one major thing I would improve is my technique in writing blogs. As we had over 2 months for this assignment to be completed, I presumed we had a lot of time to write a few blogs. I sat down one Thursday and realised I had about seven to write, and panic stations kicked in. I caught up and was up to date with everything, until Blogspot failed me. 6 weeks worth of work just disappeared, literally. Approximately 10 blogs were deleted from Blogspot and I was gutted. The deadline was creeping up on me and I was getting into a complete panic. The one thing I would improve in the future is to back up my assignments on to a hardrive and complete blogs as soon as they're set, so I don't have a traffic jam of 5+ blogs. This will help me to achieve the best possible grade and I look forward to making it my New Years Resolution to complete blogs as soon as possible!
Another thing I would improve is my editing skills overall. If I were using a music track for a particular video, I would cut and edit the video to fit the beat of the music. This is something I regret not doing with the More Soon project. I just plonked all of the clips together and made a bloopers real at the end without any thought and consideration. Looking back, I really wish I followed the inspiration set by Carl Burgess (director of Ratatat - Drugs) and fit the video with the beat, volume and design of the music.
4) Write down some future targets you would like to achieve...
There are two main targets I wish to achieve for the future. One being the sound techniques used when I film a production with members of my group. Instead of using the camera microphone, I will hire out a boom mic from the ELC to make the sound appearance the best I possibly can. We used a boom mic for a recent production we did, which was the In The First Interview. This went really well as the environment we filmed it in was a compact corridor, with no echo or background noise. When it came to our next project, the In The Third Interview, this is when sound was a problem. I won't go in to too much detail here, but what I will say is that we should've taken into consideration that there was background noise. We didn't realise the mic would pick that noise up more than our own voices! Read the blog about the In The Third Interview here: http://strictlysavage.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/documenting-doing-13-in-third.html
The second technique I would like to improve is setting a specific amount of time for my blogs per day. I had a bit of a nightmare this time as I stated above. I have decided to set around 2 hours per spare day (Weds afternoon, Thurs, Fri, and Sun) for blogs. This way I will be able to keep on track and up to date with all of the assignments and written work without getting too stressed about it. If I have no blogs to do that have been set in class, I will perhaps to a critique or review of a film or television show I have watched in a forgiving time bracket.
See you next year for a fun packed year of productions and blog work!
Merry Christmas to all reading this...
Cheerio. :o)
- Olivia.
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